Welcome to this Lectio Divina on Psalm 55.
Recording outside,
So I invite you to welcome the sounds of life and nature and the breeze as part of this meditation.
As you arrive I invite you to take a pause,
A deeper breath in this part of your day.
Welcome the opportunity to be still,
To receive,
To connect more deeply with the beloved and with yourself.
As you settle in and arrive into this space,
Take some moments to notice how you arrive,
What's present for you at this time.
What would you like to put down,
To be unburdened of?
What needs to be seen and attended to by love?
Simply noticing and in the noticing receive grace,
Great grace to be with you.
This is a long psalm so I'm only going to read the whole thing once and then focus in on some of the verses that come near the end.
On this first reading through I invite you to welcome the words,
To simply let them come.
Psalm 55.
Give ear to my prayer O beloved,
And hide not from my supplication.
Listen to me and answer me,
For I am overwhelmed by anxiety.
I am tormented by the wily voice of my doubts.
The oppression of my illusions confuse me.
They keep me bound in a prison and like bad company they enclose me in darkness.
My heart is in anguish within me.
Thoughts of death keep me company.
I spend my hours in fear and trembling and despair never leaves me.
I cry out,
O that I had wings like a dove.
I would fly away and be at rest.
Yes,
I would flee far from my fears.
I would lodge in the country.
I would hasten to find shelter from the raging doubts and anger.
Stand with me,
O beloved,
Clear all the confusion that dwells within.
For darkness and conflict dwell within my soul.
Day and night fears attack without warning.
My heart is weak in the midst of this suffering.
The end seems near at hand.
Depression and ignorance do not depart where truth is a stranger.
It is not a specific doubt that taunts me.
Then I could bear it.
It is not a known fear that rises up within.
Then I could face it.
No,
In my deepest being I feel that you have abandoned me.
We used to hold sweet converse together within the silence we walked in harmony and peace.
Let my prayer be heard,
O comforter.
Listen to me and answer me.
For I cry out to you in the midst of my pain.
Yes,
I call upon the beloved knowing that love will heed my cry.
From morning through the evening I moan in my loneliness and surrender myself to love.
The beloved will deliver my soul in safety and give me strength to search within to find the source of my fear.
Love's presence will make itself known to me,
Bringing comfort and stilling the disquiet within.
With gentle and tender guidance I shall find my way home.
Fear and doubt sought to capture me,
Weaving webs of confusion,
Breeding layers of anxiety,
Sowing false seeds of empty promises.
They sought to take control.
Yet you,
O beloved,
Were ever near,
Waiting for me to call upon you.
I offered my fears up to the beloved and love heard my cry.
I sought the one who ever listens.
Once again I knew love's presence.
Yes,
You,
O beloved,
Bring my fears to the fore,
Exposing them to the light.
I abandon myself into your hands.
Into your heart I commend my soul.
In you will I place my heart.
I offer now some verses towards the end of the psalm and invite you to notice any words or phrases that capture your attention.
Fear and doubt sought to capture me,
Weaving webs of confusion,
Breeding layers of anxiety,
Sowing false seeds of empty promises.
They sought to take control.
Yet you,
O beloved,
Were ever near,
Waiting for me to call upon you.
I offered my fears up to the beloved and love heard my cry.
I sought the one who ever listens.
Once again I knew love's presence.
Yes,
You,
O beloved,
Bring my fears to the fore,
Exposing them to the light.
I abandon myself into your hands.
Into your heart I commend my soul.
In you will I place my heart.
As I offer those verses once more,
Welcome into those deeper parts of yourself the words or phrases that captured your attention and begin to notice your response within.
Begin to notice the gift,
The offering,
The invitation that they contain.
Allow them to come to you and to bring you what you need at this time.
Fear and doubt sought to capture me,
Weaving webs of confusion,
Breeding layers of anxiety,
Sowing false seeds of empty promises.
They sought to take control.
Yet you,
O beloved,
Were ever near,
Waiting for me to call upon you.
I offered my fears up to the beloved and love heard my cry.
I sought the one who ever listens.
Once again I knew love's presence.
Yes,
You,
O beloved,
Bring my fears to the fore,
Exposing them to the light.
I abandon myself into your hands.
Into your heart I commend my soul.
In you will I place my heart.
May you,
Beloved,
Know your heart placed tenderly and gently into the heart of the beloved.
Amen.
